Lemon Tree Tales

Quilting & Turkeys, not

I've started quilting the baby quilt. It's a little bit larger than my normal baby quilts so it's that much heavier when quilting it. I quilted a bobbin's worth and it wore me out. I'll get to more of it tomorrow. My quilting needs some practice but I think that overall it'll be pleasant so I won't beat myself up about it. Perhaps next time I should have picked a thread that blends in a bit more, but this multi-color Rainbow by Superior Threads was such a perfect fall color combo. I had to get it. There's no breakage, just my own inexperience with such a large weight and FMQ. After this I think I'll go on a practice spree.

So do you wanna peek?

No, that's not dirt on the floor. It's lots of little fuzzies from the polka dot minkee border. I love how soft that stuff is and it's great for baby quilts - just not thrilled with how it sheds during the process.

Okay, I'm off to get a few items for tomorrow. We're having a quiet Thanksgiving. For all my American friends, Happy Thanksgiving to you! And to everyone else, have a fantastic weekend!

Pieced backing

I love that our family room has such a large floor. It comes in handy when getting a larger quilt backing ready for the batting. It's getting farther along now. Hopefully I can get it finished soon.

As you can see, I didn't have quite enough of the animal print for the entire backing. I wasn't concerned about size when I pieced the top. Fortunately I had quite a bit of the fabrics leftover to piece a large enough backing. I think it makes it much more interesting. Now you'll be able to use either side as the front. Hmm, that may come in handy for a baby.

Care package from Calamity Kim

I've been feeling rather blah and uninspired this week. Perhaps it's the weather - a bit on the drab and dreary side, not much sun. Either way this week hasn't been one of the best ones. Oh there were splendid moments here and there - dinner out with Steve and his cousin from LA, a quick drive to the city, a surprise shower for two. But overall it just wasn't a fantastic one. Ah, but then again, that's before the doorbell rung this afternoon.

Surprise! It was our friendly neighborhood mailman (just not the same one we first had - hmm, in fact the post office seems to switch them out on a regular basis) and he had a package for me! Yippee! It was a lovely care package from my favorite friend that I haven't 'met' yet - the one and only, Miss Calamity Kim! Isn't she wonderful?!

Look, a book that I've been looking forward to reading, a copy of Selvage magazine (which I've never really read before, what a treat!) and some delicious Halloween cupcakes. Oooh, Halloween is going to be fabulous next year. Can't you see them sitting on a nice cake stand amongst the other spooky decor?

Thank you so much Kim! This was the perfect pick-me-up!!

Audio Books and Sewing

My friend Trena was telling me how much she likes to borrow e-books from our local library. I wondered if they also had audio books available to borrow electronically. Lo and behold they do. Wow! What a great concept! There's a built-in timer so your download is only valid for the loan period. I tried it for the first time the other day. Other than having to turn the volume up very high so that I could hear over the noise of my sewing machine, it was perfect! So now I get to listen to books while I'm busy in the studio. If you haven't done so before, find out whether your local library offers this function as well.

I managed to sew the strips together for the baby quilt. Still not as quick as I'd like but it'll get done soon enough. Later this afternoon I'll listen while I press open all those seams.

Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to all who serve in the military! I especially want to thank my Grandpa Panetta who served in the US Navy during WWII. He never talked about the bad parts of it, but he would speak about the times he was in the UK driving a truck. Many tales about driving on the "wrong" side of the road. LOL He joined the Navy not too long after arriving in the US from Italy. He told me that he was adamant about fighting against Mussolini and how life was in Italy. He also wanted to fight to protect his new country - he's a very proud American.

I'm not as great with words as my husband, he said it best earlier today:

".. to all servicemen past, present, and future, as an American given the freedom on the back of your sacrifices -- thank you!" Steve Levin

Doll Faces

Yesterday I took a one-day doll class taught by Colleen Ehle Patell - Good Golly Miss Molly. The perfect name for such a fun-loving doll.

My sculpted head with features lightly drawn in:

More features colored in (sitting on top of a thigh):

Finished head sewn on torso (everything else still needs to be assembled):

 

Colleen's dolls:

Baby Quilt layout

The pieces have been cut and now are laid out on the studio floor. (Note to self: need to put up design wall felt on closet doors!) I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out. Since this picture I changed one or two of the bars to add a bit more contrast. I even like how straight they are. I may make only a few crooked when sewing them. What do you think? Will this be a good quilt for a little boy?

These will be the backing and binding fabrics. I'm toying with the idea of making some "windows" on the front with a couple of the zoo animal circles showing through. Sort of an I-spy effect. Should I go for that?

Grandma's Notions Dresser

Last Friday I drove down to meet with my Dad to take my Grandma Waltz out to lunch. It's been a year since she moved into the retirement home. She was kind enough to give me her notions dresser from her house. I can't tell you how much this reminds me of summer vacations at Grandma's house. Time spent sewing and making things.

Until I can find room for it in the studio it'll live in the bedroom. I can't wait to go through all the drawers. Already I've come across such great treasures as little tiny doll shoes, thin leather gloves to make those shoes, wooden spools! and even a box of crayons that my brother wrote on. I'll have to gather all the crayons together and send it to him. Ahh, and the dresser smells like craft projects too. I remember using the twine and googly eyes to make refrigerator magnets.

What's even better (and this was a surprise to me until my Dad helped me get it in my car) is that my Grandpa Waltz built it especially for Grandma. How cool is that?!

Happy November

I can't believe that it's November already! Where in the world has this year gone? It truly felt as if it's sped by in the blink of an eye. How was everyone's Halloween? After a delightful morning of brunch and laughter, watching F1 qualifying, we dropped by our friend's house and had dinner with them and a few of their school kids' parents. Good company plus we got to see all the costumed kids before they went trick-or-treating. When we returned to our house we still were in time to spend an hour or so handing out candy. Lots of kids this year and it probably had a lot to do with the haunted house that some new neighbors put up this year.  :-)

This week there's lots to do. The number one thing is to get cracking on not one, but two baby quilts. I have the fabrics all washed and ready to go. I've decided to make things easy and do a variation on Denyse Schmidt's Hop Skip & A Jump quilt. That should make it quick and still very graphic and bold.

Here's the two fabric stacks. I have something special in mind for the animal print:

Also sometime next week I need to complete the homework for a one-day doll class that I'm taking on Saturday. It'll be busy here that's for sure.